Lee Daniels, the director of the Academy-Award nominated movie ‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, announced at an Oscar-nominee’s event on March 1 that Hugh Jackman will star in his upcoming movie ‘Selma.’ USA Today reported on March 4 that Daniels also said he hopes to begin shooting his Civil Rights movie in May.

Daniels added that “I have to really start casting the movie because we’re shooting it soon. The only person I’ve nailed in for sure is (Hugh) Jackman. It’s all over the place.” Robert De Niro was reportedly slated to star in the film as Alabama Governor George Wallace, but Daniels didn’t confirm the veteran actor’s part in the movie.

Segregation in the South was at its worst in Selma, Alabama. A march was led there, which ended in violence and the signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Daniels told USA Today in October that the movie will focus on Johnson and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s lives. “It’s really (Lyndon) Johnson’s story. (Martin Luther) King is a part of it, but it’s really the arc of a man that starts out as a racist who is forced to look at himself in the mirror and then ultimately side with King.”

Written by: Karen Benardello

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